This fine chap was a cartoon character from whenever....Captain Caveman! A caveman thrown into a modern world and managing to survive with help from other characters. I can't quite remember how it worked so don't question me on the specifics.
Today however, we visited Matera. A place that has become synonymous with Mel Gibsons 'Passion of Christ' film which was filmed there, but which has a much richer history. I need to read up on the details now that we have been, but essentially, up until the 1950s, people lived in caves there. Real cavemen in a modern world. Caves that were part hewn from the rock itself, and part built of some and brick. A quite amazing place that following the 1950s, when it was deemed not good for Italians to be still living in caves by the powers that be, the people were forcibly evicted to concrete flats built above an area of the town. Understandably, this became a mess with political and physical battles ongoing.
The good points though are that this place was a fantastic place to visit. Built around a spectacular gorge, the town clings to the top and the sides and is a network of cobbled streets and cave dwellings. There was quite a 'WOW' moment for us all as we first looked out onto the view of the town. Sadly, the negative aspect was still apparent. Cave buildings that now are 'vendisi' (for sale), and will be scooped up by wealthy people hoping to have their bit of an amazing landscape, whilst the generations that would've inherited them now look down from their concrete flats which are apparently a better place to live. An amazing place to have been, but tinged with sadness for the 'real' people of this town.
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